What a shame not to be a bird of passage
Nor the route on a nautical chart
How sweet to be the white cloth, filled by the wind
Of the sailboat that joyfully rears up
How slow to be a cypress, living straight to the sky
That everything in this world needs its time
What a shame not to be a bird of passage
Nor a prow that knifes the seven seas
Or the gleam of a beautiful girl's earring
Who dances barefoot through the parks
I search in the noise of the squares
I search in the streets of cities I no longer know
I search for the scent of women passing by
To their business, their struggle, the task that is theirs
I'm saving a sunny afternoon
A sunny afternoon, just in case
That's a treasure nobody can snatch from me
I keep the smiling gaze of some girl
The color of an orange peel
Better a feather from a dog's wing
Than spending the days waiting
To smoke out the mind's hornet's nest
Let it scatter in apathy with its shadows
What a shame not to be a bird of passage
Or a reef on a coral bar
At the nesting dawn of passage
That floats on foamy seas
Or the glint of a tin fish, a water flower
That gleams and dances in the ponds
I look for you among the people in the squares
I look for you in the streets of cities you don't remember
I look for you in the perfume of women passing by
In the silences that grow when they don't speak
I'm saving you a sunny afternoon
A sunny afternoon, if you want it
That's a treasure nobody can snatch from you
I'm saving you a smiling gaze that wants for nothing
I keep in a pocket for you
The warmth of my skin in case you come